wind triangle


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wind triangle

[′wīn ′trī‚aŋ·gəl]
(aerospace engineering)
A vector diagram showing the effect of the wind on the flight of an aircraft; it is composed of the wind direction and wind speed vector, the true heading and true airspeed vector, and the resultant track and ground speed vector.
References in periodicals archive ?
To find ETAS, do a wind triangle on a flight computer supporting the calculation.
But if there's an issue with the electronic gizmos, it's that they have taken away the art of visualization, which allows us to see how the calculations are derived by means of wind triangles and the like.
Wind Triangles Revisited: Crabbing into a crosswind in cruise flight can mean decreased groundspeed, but how much? If you use a CR flight computer instead of an E-6B, you'll know
The idea of a headwind when our desired course and the wind direction directly oppose each other is a relatively easy one to grasp: We don't need a wind triangle to understand that if the air in which we are flying is moving at 20 knots in a direction exactly opposite our heading, groundspeed will be reduced by 20 knots.
Instead, most pre-flight planning these days is conducted online, and well-refined algorithms compute the results of a wind triangle for us, providing projected groundspeed and magnetic heading to steer, all in a nice, concise flight log we can print at the FBO and carry with us to the airplane.
Regardless, if you're a little rusty on performing wind triangles on your E-6B, don't forget winds aloft are given in true values, and you'll eventually want to convert the results to a magnetic heading.
Not so fast: if you think you have a headwind more often than a tailwind, that's because you do. Understanding the reasons might make it all easier to accept
Then we must use a wind triangle to calculate the effect of the forecast winds aloft.
You should enter your estimated groundspeed you calculated from performing the wind triangle. You also should enter the estimated time en route, the estimated time of arrival, the actual time en route and the actual time of arrival.
Batteries not required: revisiting basic navigation skills can help enhance your situational awareness, especially when all the fancy stuff goes dark
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